Kauno miestiečių elito kaita 1764-1831 metais

LTKnygoje analizuojamas Kauno miesto miestiečių elitas. Autoriai siekia atskleisti elito vaidmenis, veiklų tęstinumą ir permainas peržengiant XVIII-XIX a. sandūros ribą. Istorinis pasakojimas konstruojamas politinės sociologijos tyrimų prieigoje, kartu didelį dėmesį skiriant istoriniams faktams. [Leidėjo anotacija]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Kauno miestiečiai; Miestiečiai Reisai; Kauno miestiečių elito tyrimai; Miestiečių grupuotės; Kauno magistrato lauko kaita; Kauno magistrato elitas; Kaunas townspeople; Townspeople Reysy; Study of the elite of Kaunas townspeople; Elites of Kaunas townspeople in the field of the Magistrate.

ENThe research in this monograph is based on three groups of problems. 1) The monograph analyses the impact of political, economic and social factors on the transformation of the elite of Kaunas townspeople. In view of this, the monograph examines how elite groups, the status of their members, and the recruitment into elite groups changed. The investigation of the genesis of the group of the elite of townspeople is designed to answer the following question: What factors ensured the continuity of elites? In other words, the focus of the monograph is not only on the continuity line of elites but also on its fractures. A specific problem is associated with the period of the ruling of the Russian Empire. When analysing the phenomenon of the transformation of elites, the focus is on how the dominance system of the Empire changed powers of elites and their functioning in local authorities. 2) A historical investigation of the elite of Kaunas townspeople seeks to provide answers to the following questions: How did the political participation and activity of elites change the ruling groups? How was this activity determined by the representation of the cities and the sending of delegates to state institutions when seeking to influence decisions? In addition, the monograph deals with conflicts between elite groups. In this case, conflicts are considered to be an indicator of the elite’s activity and the representation of group interests. In examining this issue, the hypothesis is raised that conflicts between elites were determined by the belonging to the Lutheran or Catholic denominations. The purpose of this study is also to assess the extent to which these conflicts were conditioned by geopolitical fractures and reforms of foreign countries which were related to particularly important issues for urban communities.3) The monograph explores ways in which urban elites identified themselves with the city, the caste and the old urban tradition. The study also raises questions related to the basis of the identities of Kaunas townspeople and the strength of these identities. Finally, an attempt is made to provide an answer to the question how the mentioned identities helped these people to make decisions in times of crisis. The problem of linking the collective identity with social functioning in the 19th century can be solved by applying the concept of‘habitus’. It should be noted that the problems under discussion determined the general aim of the monograph, i.e. to analyse the transformation of the elite of Kaunas townspeople at the end of the 18th and at the beginning 19th centuries. The choice of the research object was guided by several key arguments. First of all, despite the fact that Kaunas was the city of Lithuania of low population density, its townspeople, who were actively defending their rights, made the city visible in the fields of politics, the design of reforms and the governance of the country. An active participation of the townspeople in defending interests of the city and the community and their identity with traditions of self-governing Kaunas and the city of merchants were an indisputable normative basis. Leaders of the townspeople acted on this basis when representing the city in processes of urban reforms in the 18th century. On the other hand, by acting in accordance with the mentioned principles, they adopted many decisions that were not pragmatic and rational in the bureaucratic field of the Russian Empire. Secondly, the analysis of the transformation of elites of cities during the peripd of the state dominance reveals the existence of the processes of centralization, militarization of cities and trade regulation.It is particularly noticeable in the period of the ruling of the Russian Empire, when the distance between the urban elite and the authorities of the Empire was reduced and the limited self-governance of the caste was integrated into the administrative governance system of the Governorate. Thirdly, the urban elite consisted of socially and economically mobile groups of merchants, real estate owners and wealthier craftsmen, who underwent significant transformations during the time of modernity changes. Thus, the entirety of the arguments set out above determined the choice of the mighty group of the community of the elite of Kaunas townspeople as an object for the research. The choice of the research object was also influenced by the study of the top of the society of the townspeople. In the study of the elite of Kaunas townspeople in 1764-1795, the concept of the ruling elite of the city was employed. This concept defines the group of the townspeople with the greatest power (those who were participating in political decision-making, using economic capital for political decisions) who occupied positions in the self-governance of the caste. However, it is impossible to fully apply the definition of this concept in the early 19th century for several reasons. The monograph focuses on two different periods during which a caste, political and social-economic status of the townspeople differed and was subject to a constant change. As a result, it is complicated to apply strict criteria that would allow to assign individual townspeople to the urban elite without reservation. [...]. [Extract, p. 293-295]